Worlds End
by Carline
Summary: Written for a challenge on the Writers Challenges and Dwarven Fan Club forum. Eragon is Galbatorix' prisoner, Alagaësia as we know it has disappeared. Who can turn the tide against the King?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a fic written for the "End of the World as we know it" challenge on the Writer's Challenges and the Dwarven Fan Club** **forum. **

**Alright, people, I'll say this once, and only once : DO NOT FLAME! If you don't like it, find a nice way to tell me... However, if you're Jessi Brooke, then you've got _carte blanche_ to flame it as much as you like. **

**Hope you enjoy...**

_**Prisoner, Slave and Rebel**_

Eragon's head snapped back from the force of the blow. He winced as he felt his lip burst, and his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood.

He hardly noticed. He had become accustomed to blows such as this over the past five years, the five years he had spent as Galbatorix' prisoner.

He turned back towards his brother. The man who had captured him and Saphira. The man who had betrayed all of Alagaësia. The man who had killed Arya.

He could remember that day better than any other. He and Arya had fought side by side, along with Orik and a few other dwarves. Thorn had landed twenty feet away from them, then flew off to battle Saphira once his Rider had dismounted.

Eragon's attention was claimed at this point by a Ra'zac that had landed in front of him and was almost instantly decapitated. But in that instant, she died.

Eragon never saw what happened. All he saw when he turned around to face his brother once more was the elf princess impaled on Zar'roc.

That image still haunted his dreams.

He had rushed forward to meet Murtagh, rage burning throughout his entire body. It was only after his sword had been flicked away and Zar'roc, stained a deeper red by Arya's blood, rested against his neck that he remembered Oromis' last lesson.

_Never let anger govern your actions._

The flat of his enemy's blade collided with his temple, and he remembered no more.

Another blow yanked Eragon's thought back to the present. Murtagh grinned, seemingly relishing his brothers pain.

"What were you thinking of?" Eragon stiffened as Murtagh forced his mind open. "Your elf princess again? This is becoming monotonous, brother."

"Why did you do it?" Eragon grated out. "You hate him as much as I do."

Both knew who he meant. They had this conversation every time Murtagh came to torment his younger brother. The reply was always the same.

"Because I had to. She was my enemy."

Eragon's second comment had never been answered, nor did Eragon delude himself into thinking that it would be one day.

* * *

Vanirs lip curled as he considered his situation for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. 

He came to the same conclusions as he always did : he was a slave in Galbatorix' palace, and he entertained no hope of being rescued.

Five years since the Varden's defeat. Five years since Arya was murdered, and four since Queen Islanzadi died of a broken heart. Ever since her daughter fell, she had slowly faded, losing the will to live. She died the day before Du Weldenvarden was invaded.

Oromis died when Galbatorix' army had stormed Ellesméra, killed by the king himself, and Glaedr not long after.

And Eragon Shadeslayer was a prisoner in this very palace.

Vanir interrupted himself at this point, removing his gaze from the opposite wall of the cell that served as his room, but he could not stop himself from coming to the final conclusion that always ended his internal debate : hope had abandoned Alagaësia.

Even if the new band of rebels _did_ manage to recruit enough men and train enough spellweavers to overcome the imperial army - unlikely, he reminded himself - there was no way to match one Rider, let alone two. While Eragon remained a prisoner and the last egg unhatched, there was no way for them to win.

And the worst of it was the Vanir could do nothing.

* * *

Roran closed his eyes wearily while listening to a report on the growing numbers of the rebel group. There were now fourteen hundred men, women, elves, dwarves and spellweavers who had chosen to join Roran : less than a quarter of the imperial army. 

With Du Weldenvarden and Farthen Dûr occupied, the rebels had had to find a new base. Surda was overrun by bandits and subject to Galbatorix' rule, and King Orrin was working in the mines near Farthen Dûr. Lady Nasuada was a prisoner in the Kings dungeons, and the Council of Elders had been executed after the Varden's defeat.

It was Roran who had gathered together what remained of the Vardens army : barely three hundred after the last battle, and escaped the elven forest to hide in the Spine. The only other free people this side of the sea were a few elves, led by Rhunön, hidden but trapped in Du Weldenvarden. It was yet to be seen if Galbatorix knew of their presence or not. He knew of the rebels, of that Roran was certain, for no matter how hard he or anyone else tried, no-one could make him believe that the King was stupid. A stupid man would not have been able to take the throne and keep it for over a hundred years.

The only ray of sunshine, for Roran, in an exceptionnally dark sky was Katrina, now a proud mother of twins : Garrow and Selena, as Roran had insisted on calling them. They were both bright and cheerful redheads of nearly five years old, and were (Roran said) the cleverest pair of hellians the gods had ever seen fit to bestow on Alagaësia.

The witch Angela was with them as well, and the two werecats, Solembum and Maud. Few of the elves and dwarves had escaped the last battle, but among them were a choice selection of the best spellweavers, smiths, generals, politicians, archers, swordsmen and advisors in all of Alagaësia. The dwarves had also had the good fortune to have their King escape alongside them : Orik, after having seen Eragon lose to Murtagh, had sounded an immediate retreat, thereby saving most of his army from the initial massacre, only to have them butchered later by the army that invaded the elven forest. He and most of his clansmen had escaped, but few others.

Roran turned his attention back to Däthedr, who had finished talking and was waiting for his reply.

"I'll deal with it tomorrow, Däthedr." Roran heaved himself out of his chair. I can't concentrate now."

"Very well." Däthedr made no comment about the use of his name. Formality and etiquette weren't considered to be important any more, even among the elves, as everyone hidden in the Spine knew that it would only need one traitor for them all to be executed. They could die the next day, if Galbatorix knew of their whereabouts. There was no time for etiquette.

* * *

**I KILLED ARYA! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooot! Who loves me? And no, she ain't coming back. She's six feet under and she's gonna stay that way! **

**On a slightly less psychotic level, please press the little button saying submit review on your way out. Or I swear I'll start killing more people off. People you all actually like. **

**Carly**

**Evil Random Facts Person and Evil Public Relations Personnel of the Evils R Us forum. Fear me if you dare!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Very sorry to have taken this long with this chappie, exams and all that have an irritating habit of taking up most of your time. **

**Replies to reviews (I'm only answering the significant ones here, you all respond wonderfully when someone threatens to kill off your fav characters...) : **

**sophianwin : I know! Isn't it great?**

**black rubix : Eragon, Roran and Nasuada... I really can't promise anything, specially not with those three...**

**Miz Turwaithiel : For the endurance bit, I figured that seeing as he's a Rider, he could hold up longer... And for the length of time he's held up, blame Jessi Brooke, she's the one that said five years.**

**Pinky : Who said anything about Roran saving Eragon? He might do, but then again I might just let Eragon die...**

**Please leave reviews, and I want to know if there are ay other hated characters I need to get rid of... **

_**Curse, Chains and Hope**_

_Elva's POV_

The girl that had once been Elva watched.

She watched the preparations made by the rebels against a possible raid by the King.

She watched Angela, no longer young-looking and cheerful, but grey-haired, wrinkled and grim-faced, instructing young apprentices in the art of potion-making and spell-casting as well as swordsmanship and archery.

She watched Roran as he talked with Katrina in the evening, his face worn and tired, and then in the morning, before leaving for his council, as he played with his children, the only time when the Roran of before the war was recognisable.

She watched Katrina, as she cried herself to sleep every night, long after her husband had gone to sleep, and Elva could feel the fear radiating off the mortal woman. Katrina had so much to lose : her husband, her children, her friends within the rebel camp.

She watched the camp wake up every morning, readying itself for a possible attack.

She watched the world go by every day, knowing that she might never again be a part of it.

When Eragon had been captured five years ago, the remnants of the curse that bound her to him, had made Elva share his fate, but in a different sort of prison. She had become a spirit, invisible to all, who could roam the world at will.

Elva didn't mind that much. She no longer felt the pull every time someone was hurt, and she no longer had to worry about a possible raid from the imperial army and the King. He could not touch her, not even see her.

There was just one disadvantage to her situation. If Eragon died, so would she.

And so she sent dreams to the mortals who opposed the Empire, showing them visions of things to come. She helped in every way she could, because she could not bear the thought that she might die because of the fate of someone else. She wanted to be free. And for that, she had to help the rebels. It was her last chance, the only escape possible from her curse.

* * *

_Nasuada's POV_

Nasuada pulled against the manacles that held her in place. She didn' t expect them to release their hold, but she couldn't stop herself trying. She was desperate, desperate to free herself, her country, her people. She stopped as soon as she heard someone enter the dungeon she was in.

It was Vanir. As soon as she knew who it was, she relaxed. She smiled wanly up at him.

"This is becoming boring, don't you think?"

Vanir smiled back slightly. He had brought Nasuada her meals for the past five years, and they had gotten to know each other, as they could hardly have done otherwise. His attention was called back to the present as Nasuada spoke again.

"Any news of Roran and the others?"

"It is said that Galbatorix knows of the rebels. Perhaps even their location. He is planning a raid against the last elves left in Du Weldenvarden. They won't hold against the imperial army, and if even one of them talks..."

"You don't seem to place much faith in the loyalty of your people."

"I do not doubt their loyalty. I merely think that it would be difficult for them to hide anything from one so skilled in magic as Galbatorix."

"Eragon could beat him."

"You think so, Lady? Perhaps, if he were once again as he was during the final battle, but now he is a broken man. And anyway, even if he were at the height of his power once more, he is a prisoner in the King's dungeons."

"Therefore he needs to escape."

Vanir laughed mirthlessly. "Escape? From Urû'baen? It is impossible."

"There is a way."

"How?"

"There is a passage from the room which contains the remaining dragon egg, into the eyries. If you can make your way..."

Vanir interrupted her. "If we can make our way from his prison, to the egg room, past all the guards and various wards, up to the eyries, past Thorn and Shruikan, to free Saphira, and then out over the city without being pursued?"

"Not forgetting to take the last egg with you."

"It is impossible."

"No. It is difficult."

"Very much so."

"Will you do it?"

"You will be suspected of helping us."

"Of course. But there are sacrifices to be made in a war, and I have had enough of this cell. I will go to join my father long before Galbatorix can force any information out of me."

"Very well. I will do as you say. Where are the rebels hiding?"

"I cannot tell you. When you are out of the city, ask Eragon the name of a forest, and he will tell you the name of the hiding place of the rebel base."

"Goodbye, Lady Nasuada."

The woman smiled. "Goodbye, Vanir. I don't want to see you again."

The elf turned and left the cell.

* * *

_Eragon's POV_

When Eragon heard the door open, he didn't even move. He just waited for the inevitable blow. It never came.

"Rider Eragon."

He opened his eyes, to see Vanir standing in front of him. "Vanir? What...?"

"There is no time, Shadeslayer. Can you stand?"

Eragon pulled himself to his feet. "I think so."

"Good. Then come. The guards will wake soon..."

"Where are we going?"

"To join your cousin."

Eragon felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, but said nothing, and followed the elf up the many stairs and along the passageways of the palace, towards the egg room.

"Why are we here?"

"Quiet, and follow me."

The elf crept along towards the doors, then, as silently as a cat, pushed open one of them and motioned to Eragon to follow him. The guards were killed as quckly as possible, and Vanir walked over to the case on a pedestal in the centre of the room. It opened with a click, and Vanir reached his hand out to remove the emerald green egg from its case.

* * *

**Oh, aren't I mean? Cliffhanger! I hardly ever do this to people, coz I know how irritating it is, but I have to stop it here or else it'll go too far, and then I'll lose the plotline.**

**You know the drill. Review, or I start killing people! Who shall it be? Mwahahahahahaha...**

**Carly**

**General Evil Person**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiya! I'M BAAAAAAAACK!!! Did you miss me?! (_Hides behind computer screen as various projectiles are thrown at her for not having updated sooner.)_ Amazing though it may seem, I actually have an excuse for not updating this time... I lost my notebook of power (the great notebook wherein all plots are contained) and I only just found it, and I didn't want to write something that went against what I had planned. And... yeah...**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

_**Fate, Renewal and Death**_

_Mystery POV..._

He knew, as soon as the elf's fingers came into contact with his shell, that he was the one. Of all those who had tried to make him hatch, this was the one. The only person worthy of the title that his hatching would bestow.

Dragon Rider.

He slammed his tail against the inside of his shell, and had the satisfaction of hearing it crack. The elf froze, as if he didn't believe what was happening. As the dragon swept away the last piece of shell obstructing his view, his eyes came into contact with light for the first time. There was another in the room besides his Rider, a human, but with the appearance of an elf, who was surveying the scene with a half-smile playing about his mouth, as if he had suspected this outcome.

He turned his gaze back to his Rider. The elf still looked a little stunned, but the effect was wearng off now. Through their newly established mental link, the dragon caught a name.

Vanir.

The two of them could have stayed like that for hours, but the human called Vanir's attention back to the present suddenly.

"We need to leave." A tinge of fear coloured his voice. "If he finds us..."

Vanir nodded and picked the hatchling up from the pedestal where he still stood, and walked over to the opposite side of the room, feeling for something on the opposite wall.

Abruptly, a piece of the wall sunk into the ground, opening up a passage. The three of them made haste along it, Vanir closing the wall behind them.

* * *

_Saphira POV..._

Saphira was lonely.

Thorn and Shruikan had gone to sleep hours ago. The two dragons had regarded her with hostility at the start, but had soon learned to tolerate her continual presence in the eyries of the imperial palace.

Shruikan held himself aloft from the younger dragons, as his Rider held himself aloft from all his peers. Their personalities were very much the same, both having the cruel disposition and merciless mind that had made Eragon's life a burden to him over the past five years. Saphira snorted in anger. Because of them, her Rider had lost everything.

At first, she had held Thorn and Murtagh to be their chief enemies, after the murder of Arya, and Murtagh's endless torment of his younger brother throughout his imprisonment. That was before Thorn had started talking to her. He was almost as lonely as she was, for Galbatorix was the only person allowed to visit the eyries, and only let Thorn see Murtagh when the two of them were doing something that served him.

Thorn had explained to her what had happened : when the two of them had returned from the Burning Plains after their battle with Eragon and herself, the king had tortured Murtagh for weeks on end for his ineptitude and foolishness in allowing his brother to escape. He had then made him swear that the next time they met, he would capture his brother and Saphira without fail.

When Eragon had been brought back to Urû'baen, along with Saphira, the king had given Murtagh another order, using his true name to make it impossible to disobey : use any means necessary to inflict pain upon Eragon, for however long it might take to make him swear fealty to Galbatorix.

When she had been told this, Saphira had felt an emotion she had never thought to connect with Thorn and Murtagh until now : pity.

Pity for the pain inflicted on them. Pity for their helplessness in the governing of their actions. Pity for the fate which made them serve such a master.

Her thoughts returned to the presence as the eyrie doors opened. Galbatorix hardly ever came to visit the three dragons, and certainly not at this time of night. Then who...?

Her breath stopped in her throat and her heart stopped beating with shock as the sight of the person in front of her answered her questions.

Joy erupted inside her, but she controlled it, and waited to be freed from her prison. The elf Vanir came forward and struck off the chains that bound her, and she reached forward to touch her snout to Eragon's outstretched hand. As she did so, their mental link flared into life again.

Quietly, she slunk between the two other dragons to make her way out of her prison, and lowered herself to the ground to allow Eragon and Vanir to climb onto her back. Only then did she notice the hatchling that Vanir was holding. Amazement was her first reaction, followed by a new determination to free herself, the other dragon, and the two Riders.

She dived off the turret of the tower and spread her wings for the first time in so many years.

_Where do we go from here?_ Her question was repeated to Vanir by Eragon.

"Nasuada said that the name of the first forest you think of will be where the rebels are hiding." the elf answered.

_The Spine?_ Eragon's answer was half statement, half question.

_The Spine. _She agreed silently.

Saphira turned her wings towards the north, and before long was out of sight of the cursed city of Urû'baen.

* * *

_Nasuada's POV...  
_

The woman who had once been leader of the Varden smiled slightly as she heard the screams of rage emanating from the cell next to her's, the one that had previously belonged to Eragon.

A few minutes later, the king had apparently got his fury under control, as the screams stopped, and heavy footsteps hurried along the corridor to the exit from the dungeons.

There was only one thing left for her to do. The rebels were in good hands, and she had done all she could to send Eragon and Saphira to them. The rest was in fate's hands.

Nasuada closed her eyes, and stopped fighting the pain that had haunted her for so long. Through sorrow at her father's death and near-starvation at the hands of her jailers, she was so close to death. It would have been so easy to end it any time during her captivity, but her people still came first, despite all.

But now, she could let go. Forget the cares and sorrows of the mortal world and leave to join her father in the afterlife. This was the end.

One last thought crossed her mind as she drifted into another place.

_May the stars watch over you, Eragon Shadeslayer._

* * *

**That was a little different from what I had been expecting myself to write, but it doesn't really matter... Well, what d'you think? Any feedback is appreciated (within reason), and if any of the people from A Shadeslayer's Worst Fear is here, then I WANT to know what you guys think! 'Kay?**

**Carly**


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